Tag Archive | J.R. Miller

Matthew 6:1 (ESV) “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

No grace shines more brightly in a Christian, than humility. Wherever SELF comes in–it mars the beauty of the work we are doing. Seek to do your work noiselessly. Do not try to draw attention to yourself–to make others know that you did some beautiful thing. Be content to pour your rich life into other wasted, weary lives–and see them blessed and made more holy–and then hide away and let Christ have the honor. Work for God’s eye–and even then, do not think much about reward. Seek to be a blessing–and never think of self-glory.

“To avoid ceremonial uncleanness–the Jews did not enter the palace.” John 18:28

The religious rulers carried their pious scruples even to the palace of Pilate. Amazingly, they had no scruples about their wicked treatment of an innocent man–but they were scrupulously conscientious about matters of mere ceremonial requirement! They would not set their feet on the Gentile’s floor–for that would have defiled them! Yet meanwhile their hearts were full of evil and murderous thoughts and resolves!

There will always be people who are most punctilious in their religious rituals–but who in practical life, are little better than heathen!

We should learn well, that God is grieved more by our bitter feelings, our lack of love, our hate and envy–than He is with little omissions in religious ceremonies and formalities.

Many people don’t think twice about taking a wild baby animal and raising it. Most babies, human and non-human, are so cute, who can resist? I have helped rehabilitate lion cubs that someone thought would be cute to have as pets. However, they out grew the cute stage and ate large amounts of meat. You can’t raise a large feline on cheap ground beef! The poor lions ended up with serious fractures of all four legs due to the poor nutrition. Can you imagine having four broken legs?

But actually the poor care for the lions was a blessing in disguise. See someone that knew so little about the care of an exotic wild animal, such that they would be so severely damaged, also doesn’t understand the complexity to raising a wild animal. Those cute, fuzzy, wobbly kittens, the size of a 6 week Labrador, grow up to be 300 – 600 lbs of pure muscle that reacts on instinct. They are deadly!

But what is worse are the lions who have been coddled and babied; loved on, toted around, and walked on a leash like a giant dog, those are downright dangerous creatures. See they have lost their natural fear and reluctance around humans. Not only that, they have learned that humans are the source of food! Since a lion’s instinct is to kill to eat, they don’t understand that distinction too well. Many people are killed or seriously injured by the wild animals they thought would never harm them.

Our sin is like those exotic animals. Sin often starts off small and in the case of children maybe even cute. You’ve seen it before, the parents laughing at a small toddler’s temper tantrum and then giving them what they wanted. Sometimes with little children it is hard to not find some behaviors cute. But imagine that behavior in a grown up body! That temper tantrum that was cute when under two can quickly become deadly.

Or what about our ignoring our own “little” sins?

That snappy temper?

Those selfish tendencies?

That self-righteous attitude?

It is Never Safe to Make Pets of Tigers!

“Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.” Genesis 4:5
“Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him!” Genesis 4:8

See here, the fearful growth of the evil feeling in Cain’s heart. It was only a thought at first–but it was admitted into the heart and cherished there. Then it grew until it caused a terrible crime! We learn here, the danger of cherishing even the smallest beginning of bitterness; we do not know to what it will grow!

Some people think lightly of bad temper, laughing at it as a mere harmless weakness; but it is a perilous mood to indulge, and we do not know to what it may lead.

“Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you!” In His reproof of Cain, the Lord likens his sin to a wild beast lying in hiding by his door, ready to leap on him and devour him. This is true of all sin which is cherished in the heart. It may long lie quiet and seem harmless–but it is only a wild beast sleeping!

There is a story of a man who took a young tiger and resolved to make a pet of it. It moved about his house like a kitten and grew up fond and gentle. For a long time its savage, blood-thirsty nature seemed changed into gentleness, and the creature was quiet and harmless.

But one day the man was playing with his ‘pet’, when by accident his hand was scratched and the beast tasted blood. That one taste, aroused all the fierce tiger nature, and the ferocious animal flew on his master and tore him to pieces!

So it is, with the passions and lusts of the old nature, which are only petted and tamed and allowed to reside in the heart. They will crouch at the door in treacherous lurking, and in some unguarded hour–they will rise up in all their old ferocity!

It is never safe to make pets of tigers!

It is never safe to make pets of little sins!

We never know what sin may grow into–if we let it abide in our heart!

“Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him!” That is what came of the passion of envy in Cain’s heart! It was left unrebuked, unrepented of, uncrushed–and in time it grew to fearful strength. Then in an evil moment, its tiger nature asserted itself!

The sins that maybe one of these days you will deal with but they aren’t a big deal?

You know those days were the children say “Moma needs some coffee or chocolate!”

The days when a slight headache causes everyone to know you are having a bad day.

The “it was OK to be rude, they deserved it” days.

Sin is sin, whether or not we think it is a big deal or not, God does.

Only slightly evil (By J. R. Miller: 1840 – 1912)

“Avoid EVERY kind of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22

Some professors are accustomed to think of some things as ‘only slightly evil’, while other things are considered as most vile in their eyes.

They appear to think, that if they keep themselves from the worse kind of sins–then they need not be so watchful against the minor forms of evil. They will not lie, nor steal, nor swear, nor do other things which would brand them as ‘wicked’ in the eyes of the community. But meanwhile they are satisfied to be ungentle, unkind, selfish, bad-tempered, and worldly!

But Paul’s exhortation is, “Avoid every kind of evil.” We are not to pick out certain things and condemn these alone as evil, abstaining from them; meanwhile indulging in pet vices and sinful habits of our own. Whatever is sinful in even the slightest way–is to be avoided!

This done, and after those things had been somewhat digested by Christiana and her company, the Interpreter takes them apart again, and has them first into a room where was a man that could look no way but downwards, with a muck-rake in his hand. There stood also one over his head with a celestial crown in his hand, and proffered him that crown for his muck-rake; but the man did neither look up nor regard, but raked to himself the straws, the small sticks, and dust of the floor.

Then said Christiana, I persuade myself that I know somewhat the meaning of this; for this is a figure of a man of this world: is it not, good sir?

INTERPRETER: Thou hast said right, said he; and his muck-rake doth show his carnal mind. And whereas thou seest him rather give heed to rake up straws and sticks, and the dust of the floor, than to do what He says that calls to him from above with the celestial crown in his hand; it is to show, that heaven is but as a fable to some, and that things here are counted the only things substantial. Now, whereas it was also showed thee that the man could look no way but downwards, it is to let thee know that earthly things, when they are with power upon men’s minds, quite carry their hearts away from God.

CHRISTIANA: Then said Christiana, O deliver me from this muck-rake. Prov. 30:8.

Paul prayed that his friends, “may be able to discern what is BEST.” Philippians 1:9-10. We must be always making choices in this world. We cannot take up everything that lies in our path–and we ought to choose the best things. Even among ‘right things’ there is room for choice, for some right things are better than others.

There are a great many Christians, however, who do not habitually choose the best things–but second-rate things. They labor for the food that perishes–when they might labor for the food that endures unto everlasting life. Even in their prayers, they ask for temporal blessings, when they might ask for spiritual gifts and treasures! They are like John Bunyan’s “man with the muck-rake”, who only looks ‘down’ and drags his rake among the weeds and worthless rubbish–while over his head are crowns that he might take into his hands!

They are like Esau, who sold his valuable birthright, for some bread and lentil stew. They toil for this world’s things–when they might have been laying up treasures in heaven!

We only have one life to live–and we ought therefore to do the best we possibly can with it. We pass through this world only once–and we ought to gather up and take with us the things that will truly enrich us–things we can keep forever!

It is not worth our while, to toil and moil and strive and struggle–to do things that will leave no lasting results when life is done–while there are things we can do which have eternal significance!

I’ve raked many a barn stall in my life and this picture is very clear to me.

Why would we want to continue to rake in the muck of the world when better and lasting things are offered?

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First Things First

The most important fact necessary before reading this website is to examine yourself to see if you are a Christian. If you are not a Christian, much of this would be ‘Foolishness’ to you.
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1 Cor 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
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If you are not a Christian then I recommend reading the following:

What is a Berean?

Acts 17:11
"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." NIV

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